S.KOREA TO LAUNCH SATELLITE - South Korea’s first space rocket the Naro-1 was moved to the launch pad Monday morning with its liftoff scheduled for Wednesday. The Science and Technology Ministry and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute say the Naro was transferred from the Naro Space Center to the launch site at 7:15 a.m. By 5 p.m., the rocket was fully erected on the launch pad and a final rehearsal begin at 10 a.m. Tuesday.    More
(Source: The Voice of Russia - Jan 29)

JAPANESE H-IIA LOFTS IGS SATELLITE DUO INTO ORBIT - Japan has launched a new Information Gathering Satellite (IGS) known as Radar-4 – along with a demo satellite – via their H-2A (H-IIA) launch vehicle. Amateur footage of the launch provided confirmation of a successful lift off from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex at the Tanegashima Space Center (TNSC) at 04:40 UTC in the early hours of Sunday. The launch vehicle (F-22) used was the 202 version of the H-IIA rocket equipped with two solid rocket boosters with the 4/4D-LC fairing.   More
(Source: NASASpaceflight.com - Jan 27)

NASA SATELLITE LAUNCH DELAYED UNTIL JAN. 30 - The Space Coast’s first launch of 2013 has been pushed back one day, to Jan. 30, to allow time to replace a rocket component. The launch of a next-generation NASA communications satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is now targeted for 8:48 p.m. one week from today, at the opening of a 40-minute window. NASA said the delay was necessary for United Launch Alliance to replace a small box on the first stage of an Atlas V rocket that sends signals for explosive devices to detonate.    More
(Source: ExtremeTech - Jan 25)

JAPAN LAUNCHING SPY SATELLITE TO MONITOR NORTH KOREA - Japan is to launch a new spy satellite Jan. 27 to strengthen its monitoring capabilities amid concern that North Korea may carry out more missile and nuclear tests. A rocket carrying a radar-equipped satellite is scheduled to blast off from a space center at Tanegashima in the southwest, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has announced. The space agency said the satellite would be used for information-gathering, including data following Japan’s 2011 quake and tsunami, and did not mention North Korea by name.    More
(Source: DefenseNews.com - Jan 25)

LAUNCH OF CHINESE-BRAZILIAN SATELLITE DELAYED UNTIL MAY/JUNE 2013 - The launch of the CBERS-3 Chinese-Brazilian satellite has now been scheduled for May or June after initially beings et for November or December 2012 due to a technical problem with the Brazilian part of the project, Brazilian newspaper Estado de São Paulo reported. The problem is with a number of small power converters acquired in 2007 from US company Modular Devices Incorporated which, after passing initial tests carried out in Brazil, failed the final tests that precede the satellite’s launch in China.    More
(Source: Macauhub - Jan 22)

NASA SATELLITE ATTACHED TO BOOSTER ROCKET FOR LAUNCH - NASA's next-generation communications satellite was mounted atop the Atlas 5 rocket Sunday, kicking off the final week of preparations to send the science-relay spacecraft into orbit. The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite K, or TDRS K, is scheduled for liftoff from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 next Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 8:52 p.m. EST. The evening's available window extends 40 minutes.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 22)

SBIRS SATELLITE READIED FOR LAUNCH - A second U.S. military infrared surveillance satellite has been delivered to Cape Canaveral in Florida for launch later this year. Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force said the Geosynchronous Earth Orbit, Space-Based Infrared System spacecraft features carries a variety of sensor payloads for improved missile warning capabilities as well as enhanced technical intelligence and battlespace awareness.    More
(Source: UPI.com - Jan 19)

INFLATABLE HABITAT FOR SPACE STATION PLANNED BY NASA, BIGELOW - NASA, building the International Space Station over the last two decades, ran into ballooning costs. One solution it's now embraced is ballooning -- literally -- in orbit. NASA has signed a $17.8 million contract with Bigelow Aerospace, a firm based near Las Vegas, to build an inflatable habitat that could be added to the space station by 2015. The new compartment is called BEAM, short for Bigelow Expandable Activity Module.    More
(Source: ABC News - Jan 18)

LOCKHEED MOVES MUOS-2 SATELLITE CLOSER TO JULY LAUNCH - Lockheed Martin has completed the required system testing on the second satellite in the U.S. Navy's Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), and has placed the satellite in temporary storage before its scheduled launch in July, the company said Jan. 16. In the spring, the company will remove the satellite from storage, perform final spacecraft component installations and conduct a final factory confidence test in Sunnyvale, Calif., before shipping MUOS-2 to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., for its launch aboard an Atlas V rocket.    More
(Source: Defense Systems - Jan 18)

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